Juridical

Juridicals were a rate in Forerunner society. They were charged with investigating criminal actions by citizens of the ecumene, as well as preventing crimes from being committed. The head of the Juridical rate was known as the Master Juridical. Many Juridicals belonged to Catalog, a group of evidence-gathering agents who were all viewed as the same individual and were connected via the Juridical network, which spanned the ecumene and was used as a means of communication and information sharing among Catalog and other Juridicals.

Juridicals often used the Domain as a means to store and investigate material relevant to given cases, enlisting the services of Haruspis when seeking to access specific information. Due to their closer connection to the Domain than Forerunners in general, Juridicals were noted to be conservative in their views. According to Catalog, Juridicals also had a tendency of becoming more cynical and aloof with age. As a result, many older Catalog units relinquished their evidence-gathering duties in favor of tasks in which less interaction with the other rates was required.

During the rule of the Old Council, Juridicals were corrupted by Master Builder Faber, and were used to pursue his agenda. Some Juridicals held controversially nonchalant views regarding the threat posed by the Flood. Since Graveminds retained the memories of the beings they absorbed, it was reasoned that as long as a civilization's constituent information was not lost, it would theoretically continue to exist even within the Flood collective.

The Juridical network was shut down around 97,445 BCE due to some Juridicals being captured by the Flood, who then were able to access the network and spread the logic plague to Catalog and ancillas. As a result, Forerunner legal proceedings were put on hold indefinitely.

List of appearances

• Halo: Silentium (First appearance)
• Halo: Retribution (Mentioned only)